Support Center - Glossary - Other

The motor acceleration rate can be increased or decreased by changing this ESC setting through the KDE Device Manager software.

These beeps indicate the number of LiPo battery cells and when an no arming signal is received. This ESC setting can be toggled on or off through the KDE Device Manager software.

The rotor’s magnetic field develops a Back Electromotive Force which acts in the opposite direction of the applied voltage. This Back EMF is used by the ESC to determine the rotor’s position in sensorless motors.

Bullet connectors allow quick electrical connections between components.

The DMA provides the ability to update the HVC and XF series ESCs to the to the latest firmware and allows customization of the advanced options.

Electronic Speed Controllers regulate the speed of 3-phase brushless motors based on a received PWM signal.

The UVC series ESCs come with dual CAN bus ports. These ports enable communication between devices and telemetry (live monitoring) of critical system components during flight. We developed KDECAN because we wanted a driverless solution (works with all CAN bus analyzer's), support for CAN2.0A, and additional features (display warnings, errors, ability to restart the ESC, etc.)

The motor acts as a generator during motor deceleration and the current flowing is maintained by motor inductance. Rather than having this excess current be transferred into heat, this power is recycled back into the batteries.

KDE Direct ESCs are optimized to use active-current freewheeling. Active freewheeling works by having the MOSFETs act as a rectifier which allows current to flow in only one direction. The MOSFETs superimpose the PWM signal to give a partial current flow (when the top fet is on, the bottom fet is off). The freewheeling current forms a loop and allows current to flow back into the motor increasing ESC efficiency and decreasing temperature, especially under partial load. To allow a smooth transition, active freewheeling is phased in at lower Pulse Widths. Overall the increase in flight time is ~10% for the overall flight when S.R. is enabled. A good explanation of this can be found here

This indicates the number of permanent magnets inside the rotor.

MOSFETs are switches that are used in ESCs to drive the motor phases. The MOSFETs and the capacitors are the primary components in determining the amperage rating of an ESC.

This changes the timing advance ratio used for the motor. A lower advance ratio gives a larger RPM and less torque. A higher advance ratio gives less RPM but more torque.

At a base level, the multi-rotor and single-rotor motors are BLDC motors with an out-runner design where the outside of the motor rotates. The key difference between multi-rotors and single-rotors is the multi-rotors are direct drive with propeller mounting directly to the rotor. The single-rotor motors have an extended shaft intended for geared applications.

An opto-isolator allows the transfer of electrical signal by using light. Opto-isolators prevent additional voltage from affecting the signal.

Overload protection is designed to protect the internal electronics from high continuous-current situations and circuit damage.

Pulse Width Modulation refers to a signal sent from a transmitter to an ESC that controls the motor’s throttle.

Stall protection enables advanced algorithms allowing for the immediate shutdown of ESCs in the case of a propeller impact or alternate unsafe event.

A process for setting the minimum and maximum throttle inputs for a transmitter. By default, this setting is set to dynamic for automatic throttle calibration.

Manual allows the user to define the starting and ending pulse widths.

When voltage protection is enabled, the ESC will limit the RPM and power consumption of the motor upon reaching the specified battery cell voltage. This feature helps prevent over-discharge and extends the life of the battery.

The power connected to motor leads is isolated from the control leads on KDE ESCs. A UBEC is a switching BEC (Battery Elimination Circuit) that guarantees reliable power to the control leads. Not all flight controllers require a BEC, please see flight controller compatibility for more information.